Newsletter 02.12.2015

FERD invests NOK 100 million in Viking Holding

The
Norwegian conglomerate FERD has invested NOK 100 million in Viking Holding, the
main shareholder of Viking Heat Engines. The money will go towards
strengthening the company’s financial position to allow for continued growth
and development of the CraftEngine Technology.

Kristian
Eikre, Head of Special Investments at FERD, says the decision to invest was
based on the solidity of the Viking Development Group, the potential of the CraftEngine
technology, and the strength and enthusiasm of the management team and people
working for Viking Heat Engines.

“A lot of
passion and hard work has gone into making the CraftEnginetechnology into what it is today,” he says. “Based
on what we saw, we came to the conclusion that this is a group of people we
believe in and want to work with.”

This is the
first time FERD has invested in the Viking Group, having traditionally focused
on more mature companies.

“We have
several companies in our portfolio that are exposed to the energy sector but
none that’s similar to Viking Heat Engines,” Eikre says. “Renewable energy is a
relatively new space for us, and we’re very excited about investing in it.”

Eikre has high
hopes for Viking Heat Engines, and is open to increasing FERD’s equity exposure
in the company if the opportunity should arise.

“We hope it will become a great success for the
current shareholders, and offer potential for us to increase our ownership even
further,” he says.

Tore Hansen-Tangen, chairman of Viking Holding,
the main shareholder of Viking Heat Engines, is very excited to have FERD on board,
and hopes they will eventually be involved in turning his company into a global
operation.

“When it comes down to it, we’re a think tank,”
he says. “We’re not an industrial group. FERD is a holding company that has investments
in many industrial companies with international expertise, and we hope that,
sooner or later, we’ll be able to access this expertise in order to build up
Viking Heat Engines.”

Eikre hopes that when Viking Heat Engines starts
to have success in the market and needs help with expanding internationally, FERD
will be able to support them in this process. “But from what I’ve seen,” he
says, “I think a lot of expertise already exists in house to make this journey
a success.”